NEWPORT NEWS, Va. -- The nationally-ranked battle for the 2019 Capital Athletic Conference Men's Soccer Championship lived up to it's billing as a heavyweight bout between two of the top defensive units in the country on Saturday evening when the 15th-ranked Mary Washington Eagles and 23rd-ranked Christopher Newport Captains played to a 1-1 draw after 110 minutes of action. After each team scored a goal in the first 11 minutes of regulation, the back lines locked down and the game would come down to a penalty kick shootout to decide the 2019 champion. Despite a key save by Christopher Newport's Justin Piercy to extend the shootout, the Captains would fall, 3-1, and Mary Washington earned the league's automatic berth into the NCAA Tournament. 

The Eagles won their third straight conference title and second in three years against the Captains. It is the first Capital Athletic Conference title to be decided by PK's since 2010 when York edged Salisbury in the shootout format. It is only the fourth time the men's soccer crown was decided after a draw in the championship match. 

Both teams were ranked in the top-15 nationally in goals-against average coming into Saturday's title matchup with Christopher Newport ranked ninth (0.58 GAA) and Mary Washington at 13th (0.63 GAA). Despite the stingy defenses, both teams were able to break through with a goal in the first 11 minutes of action. First, Mary Washington knocked in a pretty goal on a free kick from just inside the midfield line. Lucas Turney took the kick and laced a line drive into the box where Gabriel Soriano redirected his pass with a header into the left side of the goal. 

The lead wouldn't stand for long as the Captains answered just six minutes later. Senior midfielder Michael Wilson smashed a hard shot from outside the box right into the chest of Mary Washington goalkeeper Kenny Kurtz, but the Eagles netminder couldn't keep the ball corraled. Racing in for a second chance, junior forward Justin Wilson put away the game-tying goal on the next touch for his sixth goal of the season. 

With the game tied on their home field, the Captains defense strengthened as the game went on and only allowed three shots after halftime. Piercy needed to make just four saves in the game to keep the score tied. Playing in front of him, Derek Cook, Davis Pillow, Daniel Hulett, Khari Jones, and Jacob Dudley stymied each of the Eagles chances. The defense did not allow a shot on seven corner kicks after halftime. 

On the other end, Kurtz made five saves after the intermission to keep Christopher Newport off the board. One of the biggest stops came just 14 seconds into the first overtime period when Harry Whittleton challenged the Mary Washington keeper with a quick chance at a potential winner. 

With the score still tied after the second overtime, the teams prepared for a shootout. The Eagles converted on each of their first three kicks while Kurtz made a pair of stops. Needing a save to extend the shootout, Piercy stopped the next attempt by Mary Washington but the Captains could not convert offensively with a shot off the crossbar to clinch the win for the Eagles. 

Mary Washington will head to the NCAA Tournament with a 13-3-4 overall record while the Captains are now 13-2-4 after the tie. Forced into Pool C, the Captains will now hope for an at-large berth into the postseason event, which will be released at 1:30 pm on NCAA.com this Monday, November 11. 

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